


Slow & Steady Wins the Race

by trashpup



Series: 911, What's Your Emergency? [8]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, No Angst, No Smut, Pottery!!!!!, Romantic Fluff, Slow Romance, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23664298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashpup/pseuds/trashpup
Summary: Prompt:Gimmie TK and Carlos' first date. NO SEX this time, 'cuz they're for real gonna go s-l-o-w.- -Carlos and TK go on their first date (read as: i try and attempt to make a first date all fluff, no angst)
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Marjan Marwani & Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star), Marjan Marwani & TK Strand, Michelle Blake & Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star)
Series: 911, What's Your Emergency? [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663795
Comments: 2
Kudos: 109
Collections: Fluff 2020: A Multifandom Fluff Meme





	Slow & Steady Wins the Race

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dizzzylu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzzylu/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [dizzzylu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzzylu/pseuds/dizzzylu) in the [Fluff2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Fluff2020) collection. 



> this was a fun little challenge for me, someone that does not really write pure fluff...
> 
> hope it lives up to your expectations!

“TK, for the last time, you could probably come dressed in a trash bag and Carlos would still think you look amazing. Seriously, the boy talks about you like you’ve hung the moon and all the stars just for him,” Michelle rolled her eyes at TK, who was fretting over his outfit in the mirror.

Michelle had walked past the open area of the bathroom multiple times within the past fifteen minutes and TK had been wearing something different each time. He had been wearing a silky blue button-up and white chino’s, which Michelle liked, and she had told him so. Now, TK was wearing a simple black button-up, with a bandana tied around his neck, and black skinny jeans. It was a simple look, but it worked for TK, he made it look nicer than it was. 

Unfortunately, he was not ready by the time Carlos drove into the parking lot of the station. He was missing his shoes, well, one shoe. The other had been stolen, and TK had been chasing the suspect around for the past five minutes, trying to get it back.

“Buttercup, I need that,” TK whined, standing in the middle of the gym, trying to block Buttercup from exiting. Instead of fighting it, Buttercup decided to lay in the middle of the room, having dropped TK’s shoe beforehand. He laid down on top of it so TK couldn’t get to it without getting Buttercup up and TK wasn’t a monster, he wasn’t going to move Buttercup for a shoe.

He sighed and turned around to see Carlos standing nearby, smiling at the scene that played out in the gym. TK’s face went as red as his bandana and he started babbling apologies and stumbling over his words, trying to simply say _“sorry I’m not ready yet.”_

“It’s alright, I’m early anyway. Also, if you would like to know, any shoes would be fine, if anything, we’re both overdressed a bit,” Carlos looked a bit sheepish, admitting that he’d gotten here early. When they made eye contact, TK gave Carlos a huge smile before hugging him tightly.

“Hi,” TK kept his arms wrapped around Carlos, breathing in his cologne, getting familiar with how he smelled. TK decided two things in the moments he was holding onto Carlos. One being that he loved Carlos’ cologne, two being that he loved being held by Carlos, he finally felt safe. He could finally relax and let his guard down. “Where are we going, anyway?” 

“It’s a surprise, Tiger,” Carlos kissed the top of TK’s head before ruffling his hair as he pulled back. TK jutted out his bottom lip in a pout; and the pout coupled with his infamous puppy dog eyes, he knew Carlos couldn’t resist telling him whatever he wanted to know. 

“Hey, TK, hey, Carlos! Can I talk to you for a minute, Carlos? Nothing bad, I just have a quick question,” Marjan stood in the doorway, staring at the couple, still standing in the middle of the room. Carlos nodded and gave TK a quick kiss on his cheek.

“I’ll go grab a different pair of shoes from my locker, meet me at the car?” TK looked up at Carlos, his eyes still wide. Carlos laughed and nodded, kissing TK again before turning to Marjan. 

“So, what’s up?” he asked, expecting Marjan to have some complaint about TK, because it seemed like someone at the 126 always had something to say about TK’s behaviour. 

“When’s TK’s birthday? We’ve known him for over a year now and he hasn’t told us when his birthday is,” Marjan looked genuinely upset at not knowing TK’s birthday, and it took everything in Carlos to not laugh.

“He’s only told me December; have you asked Captain Strand?” Carlos pointed in the general direction of Owen’s office. When Marjan nodded, Carlos stood for a moment and thought to himself. “Just celebrate the whole month, that’ll make him mad, then maybe he’ll tell you a day.” Carlos and Marjan held back loud laughter before hearing a car horn honk twice.

“That’ll be TK,” Marjan snorted, watching Carlos roll his eyes. He pulled out his phone to twelve texts from TK telling Carlos that he was ready to go. “Go have fun, be safe!” 

-

TK had been in Texas for a little over a year, but he can’t recall ever being in this part of Austin. It was nice, he liked it. They’d been in the car for nearly half an hour, making small talk and singing badly to songs on the radio, laughing together. 

“Carlos, is this place seriously called _Easy Tiger?”_ TK asked, raising an eyebrow at Carlos, rolling his eyes when Carlos tried to hide a shit-eating grin. “You’re such a dork.”

Blood rushed to Carlos’ face when TK called him a dork, his face felt like it might be on fire, the way it heated up when TK leaned over the center console to kiss Carlos on the cheek. For the first time, TK wasn’t the flustered one. Carlos prided himself on being able to manage his emotions, but with TK, he constantly felt like it was okay to show emotions other than the standard happy, sad, angry, and tired. 

“It’s a little bake shop by day and they use it as a bar at night, so I figured I could take you here while it was a bake shop,” Carlos scratched the back of his neck, anxiously awaiting TK’s response. Did he like it? Did he hate it? 

“Well, c’mon!” TK undid his seatbelt and opened the car door, nearly tumbling over his limbs in the process. Carlos, however, took a more calm approach, taking a couple extra seconds to make sure he didn’t hurt himself getting out. TK was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his hands clasped behind him as he looked at the quaint building. 

“You might also find the inside of the building interesting,” Carlos came up behind TK and whispered in his ear, startling him. TK nodded and turned to look at one of Carlos’ hands, studying it for a moment before ultimately deciding to take it in his own. 

They made their way inside, TK staring at everything on the walls, his mouth slightly parted in awe. Carlos squeezed TK’s hand, telling him that they were going to start moving again. TK, still looking around, blindly followed Carlos to their table, almost bumping into him when they stopped. 

“This place is gorgeous, Carlos,” TK looked around in awe of the building, his eyes finally landing on Carlos, the light causing his eyes to twinkle. Carlos’ heart started racing, suddenly realising how fast he fell for TK. 

-

Their lunch went by quickly, but when Carlos looked at his phone to check the time, he noticed that they’d been in the bake shop for nearly two hours. All he could think about was how glad he was about scheduling the second part of the date. 

“Ready, TK?” Carlos pushed back his chair, seeing TK do the same. They pushed their chairs in and thanked the hostess on the way out. 

At the car, Carlos opened TK’s door for him, which made TK smile and blush a little bit. He got in and allowed Carlos to close the door for him and he watched as Carlos moved swiftly to the drivers side. 

“Would you like to know where we’re going now?” Carlos smiled over at TK before starting the car. He saw TK nod eagerly. “It’s called Sunset Canyon Pottery, it’s a nice little place where we can make our own pottery, I thought it would be a fun little activity to do together.”

“It’s like you reached into my brain and picked out something I’ve never done before but have always wanted to try!” TK said excitedly. He was practically bouncing in his seat the entire drive over and could barely be contained when they arrived fifteen minutes later. 

“I’ll help you if you need it, I love pottery a lot, Michelle and I used to come every other weekend and she figured I could share it with you,” Carlos smiled at TK. TK grabbed onto Carlos’ hand and squeezed it.

“Thank you for sharing this with me, Carlos. That honestly means a lot to me,” TK smiled at Carlos, lifting their hands and kissing Carlos’ knuckles. When they let go, they both got out of the car and headed inside, excited to try pottery together. 

TK had no idea what to expect, especially when they gave him an apron to put on. He raised an eyebrow at Carlos as to say _“what the hell is going on?”_ Carlos just smiled at him. They sat down next to each other, TK mimicking what Carlos was doing. 

He got the hang of it pretty quickly, it wasn’t as neat as Carlos’ was, but he managed to make a decent looking bowl. They shared their finished creations, Carlos telling TK that once he got more comfortable, he could add designs on it before it went in the kiln. 

Carlos showed TK what he made, but was careful that he didn’t see what was on the bottom. He explained that they couldn’t take the pottery home yet because it had to dry for a couple days, then it had to be fired and then they could come back and glaze it, then fire it again, _then_ they could take it home.

“I didn’t realise this was a multi-part date,” TK winked at Carlos, who felt his face get hot and his stomach started flip-flopping. He was absolutely smitten with the boy.

“Well, I hoped today would go well and you might want to go out with me again. I’m ambitious,” Carlos smiled back at TK, who perked at the idea of going out with Carlos again, trying not to sound too eager when he said he’d love to go out again.

“Just remember, ’Los, slow and steady wins the race,” TK had originally made the joke when they first started talking about dating, and they’d both mentioned it multiple times, especially since TK wanted this to go well. 

“Just tell me to slow down and I will,” Carlos replied, setting his pottery down and leaning over to TK’s station, letting him lean over and kiss him softly. “I really like you, TK, I want this to be perfect for you because you deserve it.”


End file.
